DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat Peter Ziegler, a freshman majoring in English, and history freshman Amy Chang grab a bite to eat at Los Betos on East Speedway Boulevard yesterday. Los Betos is one of many Tucson locations that is open late into the night and attracts hungry students.

Local restaurant hits the spot with college students on the prowl for spicy dishes, spicy social lives

From Lupita's to Las Margaritas, taco eateries are to Tucson as Starbucks are to Seattle. They contour nearly every corner, beckoning to those with the munchies, and they're mighty fitting for a college town.

When he established the Los Betos restaurant at North Park Avenue and East Speedway Boulevard, owner Francisco Martinez created an empire where carne asada rules supreme.

With its proximity to campus and assortment of Mexican dishes, perhaps no other establishment entertains quite the crowd Los Betos does after the midnight hour. The cafeteria-style dining place, quiet and sober when the clock strikes 12, undergoes a transformation not long after last call at local bars as party-goers stumble, trip and plead their designated drivers to pleeeease stop.

On the weekends, Los Betos becomes inundated with a line out the door, girls sans shoes, the latest Nokia cell phone rings and a din so loud you can barely hear the person in the same booth as you.

And one thing is for sure: With dirty linoleum, out-of-order pinball machines and intermittent flourescent lighting, students aren't exactly seeking the ambience at Los Betos. So what gives?

Martinez ÷ who said as long as even the heavily intoxicated customers are semi-intelligible, they'll be served ÷ thinks business picks up because of the location and the fact the restaurant's open 24 hours.

"Maybe it's because Los Betos is spicy. People prefer that when they're drunk," Martinez speculated.

But Los Betos may offer more to the inebriated soul than just a tasty Mexican dish. Those crinkling wrappers that fall to the floor when they are abandoned in the feverish assault of a dripping burrito can say much more about a college student.

"Often it's a release from the stress of the day," said Gale Welter, a nutrition counselor at Campus Health. "Alcohol goes really good with food. It's part of the traditional college experience."

Losing inhibition when it comes to late-night drinking and subsequent snacking, however, may do more of a long-lasting number on the waistline than burrito-eaters care to consider.

Welter said alcohol tends to stimulate the appetite, and by then, you've lost the resolve to say no to high-fat foods. And no surprise, Welter said, your sense of self changes.

"Once you drink, you feel more beautiful. You lose that restraint, the mechanism that says (eating) is a bad idea," Welter said.

Case in point?

Late-night consumer Laurie Apples-Kaivai, with her designated driver in tow, described herself as "happy and drunk." But would she eat the same carne asada burrito in the daytime? "Never," she said with a giggle.

Welter calculated that a person who indulges in two beers and two mixed drinks, followed by a grande burrito just once a week stands to gain well over 20 pounds in a year.

It's a reality that sends a number of students her way for nutritional advice ÷ and more often than not, it's the guys.

"So many men have no clue," Welter said. "They'll say, Îat 11 p.m. I had a pizza and a half gallon of Gatorade.' They're refreshingly innocent."

Girls on the other hand, usually know where the plus pounds come from, Welter said. "They just can't figure out where to make the change."

Alas, the difficulties of being trapped with a burrito and booze-induced booty.

As Welter said, socialization makes establishments like Los Betos part of the college experience, and realizing the impact of regular late-night binges probably won't revolutionize the ritual of a late-night Betos run any time soon.

Students can be assured Los Betos will continue to deliver the whole enchilada for those who can't convince their drivers to take them all the way to Viva Burrito or Waffle House, because, as Martinez noted, the after-bar crowds make up a significant amount of the diners.

Media arts sophomore Spencer Waldman, "drunk and hungry," parted with his business savvy, albeit slurred: "The key to success · is a close-by 24-hour Mexican restaurant."

Seems then that Martinez and his Los Betos burritos hit just the spot.